Harmanpreet Kaur’s winning Indian women’s cricket team arrived in the nation’s capital on Tuesday night in preparation for their Wednesday meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In Sunday’s final in Navi Mumbai, the team defeated South Africa by 52 runs to win its first global trophy—the 50-over World Cup—marking a turning point for the women’s sport in the cricket-mad nation.
The players and support staff entered the lavish interiors of the five-star Taj Palace and were showered with rose petals upon their arrival.
Then, while onlookers applauded, players including Jemimah Rodrigues, Radha Yadav, and Sneh Rana were seen dancing inside the hotel to dhol sounds.
Earlier, a sizable crowd gathered at the Mumbai airport to bid farewell to the team members and head coach Amol Muzumdar.
However, only a small group of media representatives were present at the General Aviation Terminal (GA), a specialized facility at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport; the general public was not permitted due to security regulations.
To find any possible threat, police officers used dogs to do sniff tests on the team bus and nearby routes.
The Indian team members departed for the hotel after reaching the IGI airport. On Wednesday evening, they are expected to meet the Prime Minister before leaving for their individual hometowns.
The only player returning to captain the North Zone women’s squad in the Inter-Zonal T20 match is Shafali Verma, who will be in Nagaland for the occasion.
During the meeting, PM Modi will congratulate the victorious Indian team. The event, which will take place at the prime minister’s official residence, will celebrate the team’s outstanding campaign led by captain Harmanpreet.
With the team defeating the tough South Africans in the final to become just the fourth team to win the ODI title, the victory marked a turning point for Indian women’s cricket as years of hardship and near-misses culminated in an evening of redemption and history.
